Accordia Life & Annuity Company Deftly Navigates Lapsed Life Insurance Litigation

Accordia Life & Annuity Company (Accordia), a subsidiary of Global Atlantic Financial Group, was sued in California state court for claims regarding the payment of a lapsed life insurance policy. Faegre Drinker represents Accordia in the dispute, having filed a demurrer on their behalf that argued on all four counts that the statute of limitations had expired and that the plaintiffs had failed to state a claim. Faegre Drinker also filed a motion to strike all punitive damages allegations. The court granted every claim in the demurrer, agreeing with all of our arguments on both the statute of limitations and failure to state a claim issues. It also granted our motion to strike punitive damages, which is rare. The court allowed the plaintiffs leave to amend to specifically assert the date the policy lapsed. Our team filed a second demurrer and motion to strike. The motion to strike was granted without leave to amend, and the demurrer was granted on two claims without leave to amend.